Determination
by DaughteroftheOneTrueKing
Summary: Ginny gets up her courage


**And I'm back again. This time it is for Quidditch League, this is the semi-finals round. I can't believe it, we're in the top four! If we win this round, we have a chance to win! My task is to write about someone who will not give up despite many failures. I am still Captain of the Wasps team, and I hope you like this story!**

Ginny stood before the broomshed just out of sight of the house. Her brothers Fred and George had just left to go hang out at Lee Jordan's for the day, and she was finally doing something she'd wanted to do for a long time: practice flying.

She'd flown before, of course, but first year training only consisted of two or three lessons. Ginny had never gotten the hang of it then, but she was more determined now than ever. After being nearly killed by the memory of Tom Riddle, everyone looked at her as a delicate little girl. She'd decided to learn to fly and prove them all wrong.

The first challenge was to open the shed door. It was locked, but Ginny had learned the counter jinx.

"_Alohomora_," she whispered, aiming her wand at the door. It was a risk, doing magic outside school, but after all, there were two adult magicians in the house who were just as likely to have cast the spell as she would have been, at least according to the rules of the Trace.

It was a relief to hear the door creak open slightly, and with a quick glance over her shoulder, Ginny slipped into the shed and grabbed one of the brooms. The handle was a light colored wood, perfectly sanded, but with several twigs at the end of it that were out of place. _Oh well_, she thought. It would have to do.

She remembered the instructions given by Madam Hooch on their very first flying lesson. "_Grab your broom very firmly. Only go up when I tell you to. Last year a student broke their hand because they didn't listen. On my word, say 'UP!' and if you've done it well, you should see your broom rise to meet you."_

Ginny had never even gotten the broom to rise to her hand during the lessons at Hogwarts, but now she was more determined.

"Up!" she exclaimed as loudly and firmly as she could. For a moment, she thought she saw it twitch on the ground, but that could have just been her imagination, or the grass giving the illusion that it was moving.

Undeterred, Ginny tried again, and again. Still nothing happened. It was if the broom had been chained to the ground with a Permanent Sticking Charm, or worse, wasn't magical at all.

With a groan of frustration, Ginny stomped off and paced around the broomshed, thinking of what she hadn't been doing that she could try and maybe get some different results. There had to be something she could do to do better!

"What do Fred and George always do when they go up?" she asked herself. She'd always done this when she needed to improve on something. The answer turned out to be easy: not very much at all. For them, the words were always enough to get them in the air. Fine, then. She thought of her other Quidditch inclined brother, Charlie.

These thoughts stopped her right in her tracks. What was she doing, comparing herself to her brothers? They were all extremely different than her, and even more so among themselves. Percy would never be caught playing Quidditch when there was a book or assignment he could stick his nose into, whereas Bill or Fred and George would more likely be chasing the gnomes around outside than read a book they didn't need to.

_Maybe that's my problem,_ Ginny thought. She kept thinking of more ways to do things like her brother, when she should just be doing things her own way. She had put the boys in their place more than once whenever they tried to treat her like a little kid.

Ceasing her pacing, Ginny returned to the broom she had left on the ground. Brimfull of confidence, she spoke in her surest and most condescending tone she used on Percy or Ron when they were being especially "big brother-y".

"UP!" she exclaimed, and was ecstatic when the broom immediately jumped into her hands, ready for its next flight. The feeling was exhilarating. She had done it! She'd actually gotten the broom into her hands. The next step was to actually fly.

Straddling the broomstick, Ginny took a deep breath before she pushed off the ground. As soon as she had made it into the air, she wished she'd realized that she should just be her own girl a lot sooner. The feeling of the wind through her hair was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. It turned out that she was a natural flyer, although she really shouldn't have been surprised. After all, Charlie was the most celebrated Seeker Gryffindor had ever had until Harry joined the team, and Fred and George had created a reputation for themselves as Beaters as well..

Zooming through the skies around her home, Ginny realized that she would do anything to stay in the air for the rest of her life. The feeling of flying was the best thing she'd ever been through, although that wasn't hard to contest.

* * *

As the years continued, Ginny kept stealing her brothers brooms to practice whenever she had a chance. She finally told Hermione Granger, her closest girl friend, that she did so, and swore her to secrecy. Eventually, she gained enough confidence to try for the Gryffindor team and earned a place on it that would lead her to playing on her favorite team, the Holyhead Harpies.


End file.
